08/24/2026
Do I have your attention now? 🫣
Do you want to support the American Rancher but maybe don’t really know where to start?
Here are some ideas:
•Write your representatives letting them know that as a consumer you want to know where your beef is from and that you would like to see Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling reenacted. The reality is we already do have imported beef in this country but it’s only fair to the consumer that there is full transparency there.
•Like, share, and follow their social media pages. Today’s generations have the ability to diversify income and there are many ranches who have monetized their social media by sharing a little piece of their life with others. It may seem silly to some but there are ranches that have saved their multi-generational ranch by diversifying this way.
•If you’d like to help those affected by the fires immediately. The link wasn’t working so here it is from Kody at Treasure Valley Weather HQ
❤️ WEISER, JUNTURA, JORDAN VALLEY, AND OUR RURAL COMMUNITIES STILL NEED OUR HELP. ❤️
The flames may not be dominating your newsfeed today, but the people living through this are nowhere near finished. For many families, ranchers, and volunteer fire crews, the hardest and most expensive part is only beginning.
Right now, Weiser, Juntura, Jordan Valley and the surrounding communities still need:
• Livestock feed
• Water troughs
• Gates
• Fencing materials and supplies
• Clothing and other basic necessities for families who lost their homes
• Food, drinks, and other needed supplies for firefighters
If you own a business and can donate any of these items, or even offer them at a discounted price, please reach out. Funds have been raised to help purchase supplies, we just need businesses willing to partner with these communities.
For donations and assistance around Weiser, contact Trina Whittaker at 208-477-8258.
🐄 Support Ranchers Impacted by the Big Grass Fire
The Owyhee Cattlemen’s Heritage Fund is helping ranchers recover from the Big Grass Fire by assisting with the costs of:
• Additional pasture
• Hay and feed
• Fencing supplies
• Trucking livestock
• Other unexpected rebuilding expenses
VENMO:
PAYPAL: Search Owyhee Cattlemen’s Heritage Fund
Mail Donations To:
Owyhee Cattlemen’s Heritage Fund
8099 Seven High Lane
Murphy, ID 83650
Please put “Big Grass Fire” in the memo.
The Owyhee Cattlemen’s Heritage Fund is a 501(c)(3), and donations are tax-deductible.
🚒 Support the Juntura RFPA & Coleman Creek Fire Recovery
The Juntura Rangeland Fire Protection Association is made up of local ranchers who also serve as volunteer firefighters and first responders. Because they’re so far from larger resources, they’ve had to rely heavily on their own equipment during the Coleman Creek Fire.
With fire resources stretched across the state, that equipment has taken a beating. They’ve experienced numerous equipment failures and need help replacing and upgrading what they use to protect their communities.
You can support them by:
📬 Mailing donations to:
Juntura RFPA
P.O. Box 234
Juntura, OR 97911
📞 Contact:
Tasheena Canaday
541-576-9148
[email protected]
💙 Or donate through the Coleman Creek Fire GoFundMe:
https://gofund.me/299e665bb
Supporting our communities doesn’t end when the flames die down. Recovery takes months, sometimes years. Our ranchers, volunteer firefighters, and families are going to need us long after the smoke clears.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your donation makes a difference, I can promise you this: it does.
Let’s continue showing eastern Oregon and southwest Idaho what neighbors helping neighbors really looks like. ❤️
•There is currently a legislative initiative named the PRIME Act- Processing Revival Intrastate Meat Exemption- this would allow small farmers and ranchers to use custom exempt butchers to get their product to the consumer and retailers within the state without the regulatory burden of USDA inspections. Allowing small-scale ranches to be more competitive and promote local food systems. This would be giving the power to the states to pass their own laws without the stringent regulations of federal inspections. Being supportive of initiatives like this that take the federal regulations off of the small ranchers and allow the states to regulate so we could use custom exempt butchers to allow us get more product to our consumers. Not everyone has the ability to purchase or store a half or whole steer at a time.
I could make a whole post on this alone. Personally, this is one of our biggest hurdles. We searched high and low for a USDA butcher within 2.5 hours from us. On top of already being a limited number of them, the majority will not accept cattle with horns. We believe in using the animal from nose to tail and skulls being another way to diversify income. Scottish highlands are a majestic heritage breed and it’d be a shame to dehorn them. We found a trusted USDA butcher. It was a two and a half hour drive for us but within a year they were no longer butchering. This initiative would reduce travel time for most which is better for animal welfare. I can definitely share more on the process, the difference in custom and USDA, our experience with both etc.
•As your budget allows find a local rancher that sells direct to the consumer. Whether it’s small bundles of individual cuts or halves and wholes. I know life is expensive these days and it’s not realistic for everyone. Ask questions, get to know them, get to know their story, their process of how your beef makes it from their pasture to your freezer. Build relationships within your local community and shorten the food chain. Start small. Support nearby farm stands. Buy some veggies, a meal worth of beef and throw together a locally supplied dinner. The more we prioritize keeping our money in our local communities the better chance we have of not seeing that beautiful field you used to drive by with cattle grazing in it turned into concrete.
I hope this helps—something for every budget! This born and raised Idaho girl is tired of feeling sad driving through my hometown and every place that holds a childhood memory seeing a building standing in the place of hay field, concrete where there were once onions, or cookie cutter houses where cattle and horses once grazed. If we want to save the grazing land and farmland so we don’t become a nation dependent upon other countries to feed us we must first support the ranchers and farmers who steward it.
